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Shaka

(Redirected from Shaka Zulu)
Shaka
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Shaka

Shaka (sometimes spelled Chaka) (ca. 1787 - 22nd September 1828) changed the Zulu tribe from a small clan into a nation that held sway over a large proportion of Southern Africa. His military prowess and new tactics, his practice of destroying his enemies and assimilating the remainder marks him as one of the greatest Zulu chieftains.

Contents

Early years

He was the first and illegitimate son of the chieftain Senzangakona and Nandi, a daughter of a past chief of the Langeni tribe, born near present-day Melmoth, KwaZulu-Natal Province. The Zulus had a practice of uku-hlobonga — a heavy-petting, safe-sex practice, that got out of hand in this case. Disowned by his father, he spent six years at his father's kraal, ridiculed by his peers. After allowing a sheep to be killed, he and Nandi returned to her people, the Langeni, where they were also unwelcome. He did not forget these transgressions, and exacted fearsome retaliation later. He and Nandi found refuge with her aunt at the emDletsheni clan which dwelt directly under the powerful Mthethwa and their aging king Jobe. Jobe was succeeded by his son Dingiswayo (Godongwane).

Shaka was about twenty-three years old when Dingiswayo called up the emDlatsheni iNtanga (age-group), of which he was part, and incorporated it in the iziCwe regiment. He served as a Mthethwa warrior for six years, and distinguished himself with his courage, rising to a general. Dingiswayo, having himself been exiled after a failed attempt to oust his father, had brought back new ideas of military organisation, in particular the regiment (impi) and a chain of command. Most battles before this time were to settle disputes, and the appearance of the impi dramatically changed warfare. More powerful armies caused the Mfecane migrations - conquest, disrupted societies fleeing, and in turn using the same military techniques to destroy other societies, that caused other wars and more displacement. Shaka saw, and improved upon, Dingiswayo's new techniques, both under Dingiswayo and later to extend his own power under the Zulus.

Shaka's Military Revolution

On the death of Senzangakona, Dingiswayo aided Shaka to defeat his brother and assume leadership in 1816. Shaka instituted a regimental system similar to that of Dingiswayo. He was dissatisfied with the long throwing assegai, of which traditional warriors carried three - he could see no point in throwing away a weapon. According to EA Ritter (sometimes considered rather dramatic), Shaka visited the blacksmiths anonymously - a shadowy group on the edge of society, as they were rumoured to use human body fat in the smithing process. He requested that they design him a new weapon - the Iklwa , a short stabbing spear, with a long, swordlike spearhead. It was named for the sound made as it went in, then out, of the body. Shaka also introduced a larger, heavier shield made of cowhide and taught each warrior how to use the shield's left side to hook the enemy's shield to the right, exposing his ribs for a fatal spear stab.

Discipline and close combat characterized Shaka's army. To toughen his men he discarded their leather sandals, having them train and fight in bare feet. Shaka's troops practiced by covering more than fifty miles in a fast trot over hot, rocky terrain in a single day so that they could surprise the enemy. Young boys from the age of six up joined Shaka's force as apprentice warriors (udibi) and served as carriers of rations and extra weapons until they joined the main ranks.

Prior to Shaka, most African combat included mass attacks accompanied by spear throwing with little maneuver.

Shaka changed that with his now-famous Zulu battle tactics, which he borrowed from Dingiswayo and developed. The regiments in the field, collectively known as the impi, were split into four groups. During the battle they formed the shape of a bull's head - the first and most powerful group forming the 'chest' (isifuba), which clashed head-on with the enemy. The second and third groups formed the 'horns' (izimpondo), who would surround the enemy at the same time in a circular movement. This encirclement would ensure no escape or retreat for enemy forces. The fourth group formed the reserves. Shaka observed the formation from high ground and controlled the sections of it by foot messengers.

Shaka's strategy in employing his tactics was simple. His initial attacks came against smaller bands and clans, giving him easy victory. He then offered the survivors the choice of either death or joining his force. Those who chose to join Shaka, as most did, had to give up their tribal affiliations. They not only joined the Zulu; they became Zulus. The new warriors received training in the Zulu style of war and were integrated into the regiments.

Shaka changed the nature of warfare in Africa from a ritualised exchange of taunts with minimal loss of life into a true method of subjugation by wholesale slaughter. Half a century after Shaka's death, the Zulu nation still employed his tactics to defeat their enemies and repel invaders, reinforcing Shaka's reputation as one of modern Africa's most influential military leaders.

Return to the Zulu

In 1816, after the death of his father, Shaka seized power over the then-insignificant Zulu clan. His first mission was to exact revenge on his childhood enemies - many of whom he had impaled on stakes as fatal punishment. With the Langeni, if they could not name a time when they helped him or Nandi, they suffered the same fate.

He still recognised Dingiswayo and his larger Mthethwa clan as overlord after he returned to the Zulu, but a year later he betrayed Dingiswayo to Zwide, king of the northern Ndwandwe clan, in a divide-and-conquer strategy which benefited his still small Zulu clan.

Shaka tried to form an alliance with the scattered Mthethwa clan, and the Qwabe, against Zwide, but was rejected by the Qwabe. He mustered his impis, and defeated the Qwabe in late 1817.

Zulu Civil War

See main article: Zulu Civil War

His first major battle against Zwide of the Ndwandwe was the Battle of Gqokli Hill, in Shaka's territory. Masterful tactics in spite of being outnumbered 2:1 won the battle for Shaka, though his forces were too small to defeat the Ndwandwe.

The Ndwandwe thus remained Shaka's main enemy, and Shaka laid up stores in anticipation of the next attack. Again, traditional conflict dictated that the burning of the main kraal would disable the defending force - Shaka ordered that food should be moveable.

A year later Zwide invaded again, but after a fruitless search for Shaka's main army and suffering attrition from harrying attacks, they returned north. Another EA Ritter story relates that while Zwide's forces were laid up in a forest, Shaka instructed saboteurs to infiltrate the enemy forces. The codeword and answer was :- Are you Ndwandwe ? Yes, I am the real Ndwandwe. In the middle of the night, the infiltrators stabbed their neighbours and cried out. The Ndwandwe forces were so spooked that they lit fires and stayed up that night, while the saboteurs slipped away after claiming to have seen a sorcerer riding a hyena in the woods.

At the Mhlatuze River , Shaka waited until Zwide's army was halfway across the river and attacked the divided forces. Zwide was defeated, the Zulu raced to the Ndwandwe royal kraal, sang their victory songs, and took the Ndwandwe by surprise.

Mfecane - The Scattering

See main article: Mfecane

The increased military efficiency led to more and more clans being incorporated into Shaka's Zulu empire, while other tribes moved away to be out of range of Shaka's impis. The ripple effect caused by these mass migrations, known as the Mfecane, had effects as far away as present-day Zimbabwe where local Ndebele people can claim their descent from Mzilikazi, one of Shaka's generals who returned insufficient tribute to Shaka while he was on expedition. The demoralised state of many such refugee clans undoubtedly made them easy for both the British and the Voortrekkers to subjugate, and thus indirectly advanced the cause of colonialism, with the Anglo-Zulu War.

Death and Succession

Although Shaka made preliminary contacts with Europeans from the British Empire, he was killed by his half-brother and successor Dingane with help from another brother Umthlangana (Mahlangane) and his induna (advisor) Mbopa before he could test his strategic brilliance against an army equipped with flintlock muskets. His successors got plenty such opportunities, both against the Voortrekkers and against British forces. Later in the 19th century the Zulus would be one of the few African peoples who managed to defeat the British Army at the Battle of Isandlwana. Shaka left no children, as he saw them as potential rivals. He did have a large harem, but these were mostly girls he used as trade and gifts for other chiefs. The Zulu bloodline succession was ensured by his half-brother Mpande and the induna Ndlela kaSompisi.

Shaka's name was derived from the Zulu word iShaka - an intestinal beetle on which menstrual irregularities were usually blamed - as Nandi was said to be suffering from this because of her out-of-wedlock pregnancy.

See also

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Last updated: 05-07-2005 05:42:55
Last updated: 05-13-2005 07:56:04